Measure Part of Assembly’s Comprehensive Gun Violence Prevention Package
(TRENTON) — Assemblywoman L. Grace Spencer (D-Essex) issued a multimedia package Friday on her legislation to prohibit the sale and criminalize possession of armor piercing ammunition in New Jersey.
Current law prohibits the possession of hollow nose, Teflon-coated and hardened metal jacketed ammunition. Spencer’s bill (A-588) would prohibit the sale or possession of a class of bullet designed to pierce modern, Kevlar-style body armor. These full metal jacketed bullets are constructed with two metal inserts: the tip of the bullet has a steel penetrator, followed by an aluminum core. The hardened tip and metal jacket allow for greater penetration of body armor and the weight relationship between the core and the tip cause the bullet to tumble in soft tissue, causing massive, often fatal wounds. Violators found in possession of this ammunition would be subject to fines of up to $10,000 and up to 18 months in prison.
The multimedia package consists of a video of comments from Assemblywoman Spencer on her legislation and audio and a transcript of same.
The video can be accessed directly via our website — www.assemblydems.com — or by clicking here.
The audio file is available upon request.
A transcript of comments from Assemblywoman Spencer is appended below:
Assemblywoman L. Grace Spencer (D-Essex):
“What the bill does is it prevents, basically, people from purchasing armor piercing bullets.
“Armor piercing bullets are not something that normal people need. It’s not something that anyone needs. Basically, we’re talking about bullets that will pierce Kevlar body armor. There’s no reason for people to have them and what this bill does is it prevents the people from having the opportunity to purchase them.”